Another Day at Vigil's Keep
by Merisida
Summary: Lyria isn't looking forward to her new job as Warden Commander, and a certain templar - as well a new group of friends - are not going to make it any easier. Set during Awakenings
1. New awakenings

Another Day at Vigils Keep

1: New awakenings

Lyria groaned as she walked through yet more mud, the rain pelting down against her armour and weighing her down even more. Her legs ached and her shoulders were hurting but she was looking forward to finally arriving at her new home, Vigil's Keep.

After defeating the Archdemon six weeks earlier, she had spent some time in Denerim with the new (and unhappy) King and Queen before receiving a letter from the First Warden from Weisshaupt asking her to take over as the warden commander of Ferelden. She had been gobsmacked to think that they really wanted her to be in charge. Sure she had defeated a giant dragon and formed an army with the allegiance of the people of Ferelden, but she still did not believe she was good enough for the job. Alistair, who had been the only other warden to survive the blight and who had stood at her side throughout everything was eager for her to accept the role. So she had, and she had promptly been told she would be taking up residence at Vigil's Keep in Aramanthine, where the wardens had just taken over.

Taking over the role of warden commander was one thing, learning that she would be the new Arlessa was another. She had never been much of a peoples person and people had never seemed to like her much. They would be perfectly calm and reasonable until they spotted her pointed ears. Then the conversation would get worse once they realised she was a mage who had once lived in the circle and 'escaped' to live as a warden. And Lyria was well known for her temper, especially when humans called her nasty names.

She had dreaded going there for a while, until she had finally decided that she didn't care. She was an elf and a mage and also happened to be the one person willing to stand up for the people of her country. It would be tough if they didn't like her.

Now she was beginning to re-think that attitude. What if she was a bad leader? What if she made mistakes that cost someone else?

Her mind went blank as she saw the building in the distance, a great pair of stairs led up into the main building and a small courtyard was below. She wasn't surprised to see the place looking empty, what with the miserable weather, but the old keep looked worse than she had imagined. It was an old building, she knew, but the rubble lining the ground and the broken walls was not a good sign.

She sent a look over her shoulder to the woman at her side, Mhairi, who only shrugged back. "It wasn't this bad before... Something must have happened."

Lyria had never been to this place before so she had no idea if Mhairi was right, but the almost desperate note in her voice was enough to make her mind up. "Let's go." The two women continued onwards, the smell of smoke hitting them as they came closer. Finally they could see the smoke rising from the keep, and a lot of it. There was obviously an out of control fire inside.

Lyria gasped as her senses were hit by a force she hadn't felt in weeks. It was like a kind of buzzing all through her body, a warning of the approaching taint. Darkspawn. No sooner as she had righted herself a man ran towards them, his face contorted into an expression of pure horror. A group of five darkspawn were following behind him, ready to strike him down.

Lyria's hands came up instantly and the five darkspawn stopped as a bout of ice crashed into them. Some were frozen in place while the rest forgot their target and switched their attentions to the only other tainted being in the area. She watched in satisfaction as Mhairi's shield slammed into the frozen darkspawn, shattering them to pieces.

Lyria's lips turned upwards into a feral grin as unsheathed her sword, a battle yell fell from her lips as she rushed straight towards the monsters.

* * *

><p>They had taken refuge in a small and secured room, their breathing heavy and strained. Of the six of them that had originally come to the keep, there was now only four.<p>

The templars had only arrived the day before with their captive, wanting to rest and recover before they traveled further to the Circle to hand the mage back over. But as the day had gone on the mage had stalled, and they had been forced to wait. The first sign that something was wrong came just after dark, when the skies opened up and the rain fell heavily, masking the noises of the approaching darkspawn.

The wardens had been unprepared and unaware of the danger lurking just around the corner. And now they were all dead.

The darkspawn had attacked and immediately a battle had started within the halls of the keep. The templars had tried to help, and stood by the wardens to fight but after loosing one of their men and watching the many wardens fall they had fallen back, further into the keep.

Another of the templars had fallen after they had been ambushed in one of the corridors and Cullen, as the most senior templar there, had decided it was time to leave before they lost anymore men.

He had ordered the others to grab the mage and they ran through the keep with ease, having apparently lost all the darkspawn. That was until a group of twenty had rounded around the corner in pursuit. Cullen had seen a room off to one side and roughly shoved the mage in first, followed by his fellow templars before entering and throwing himself at the door to stop the darkspawn from coming through. The others helped, save for the mage who stood back in a dark corner, muttering to himself.

How could they have got in so much trouble? This was supposed to be a simple mission; get the mage and return him to the tower. It wasn't hard. But instead they had to get caught up in this mess. Cullen turned on the mage suddenly, a glare on his face. It was his fault they were still there, his fault his friends were now laying dead.

The mage must have sensed his anger as he held up his arms in mock surrender, just as the door stopped wobbling under their frames. It seemed the majority of darkspawn had left and the remaining ones were not strong enough to force the door open with three templars on the other side.

Cullen relaxed slightly, wondering how they would get out of this mess when a loud bang sounded throughout the room. They all looked upwards as dust fell from the beams on the ceiling and the walls seemed to creak under the pressure.

The mage suddenly let out a gasp and Cullen turned to see him staggering backwards, a group of darkspawn pouring into the room from a hidden door that had been behind them the entire time. Why didn't they check if the room had other entrances? He would have smacked himself if he'd not been in such a hurry to get his sword.

The other templars left the door, springing forward to slay the monsters and Cullen was forced to stay where he was and hold his door in place, else they would have double the numbers of darkspawn to battle. The door rattled beneath him as he watched the fight with wide eyes, one templar swung his sword but was gutted by a genlock before his blow could strike and the other was shrieking as the monsters advanced on him. Cullen watched in horror as the darkspawn cut down both the templars and rounded on himself and the mage.

A sudden feeling spread through his body, one that he recognised easily as mana. He looked to the mage, expecting to see him working a spell but he was just standing there, his eyes wide and his feet slowly backing him against the wall. It wasn't him. There was another mage nearby, casting spells and he could sense it.

With one last shove he leapt from the door, swinging his sword and taking down two of the genlocks that were advancing on him. The mage seemed to have returned from his stupor and was finally casting spells at the darkspawn, flinging lightning bolts at their heads and scorching them with fire.

Some of the monsters ran through the now open door to escape, a wild look on their faces, but Cullen was sure they were not running away in fear. Seconds later he heard the telltale sounds of battle from outside, the sickening sound of flesh being sliced open and swords clashing together. Just as the mage burned the last darkspawn to a crisp, a form appeared in the doorway and Cullen's breath hitched in his throat.

There stood the woman who had haunted his dreams for many years. Lyria Surana.

She was just as he remembered her, and yet so different at the same time.

She was still short in height, with long, burning red hair that reminded him of the fire she so often used to play with in her hands, her ears pointed, sticking out from behind her messy bun while small strands of hair framed her blood covered face.

She was not dressed in the robes he had become accustomed to seeing her in. She was dressed all in glittering, silver armour, a black griffon printed across her chestplate which was splattered with dark blood. In her hands she held a longsword, dripping with blood and a small dagger which seemed to be completely clean. Her mouth opened to speak but snapped shut with a click as she took in her surroundings.

Cullen was half leaning against the far wall, out of breath and completely stunned. And on the other side of the room stood a familiar mage who was staring at her with wide eyes. Behind him the remaining darkspawn were slowly crumbling to ash and the bodies of two dead templars were sprawled across the floor. Seeing where her gaze lingered, the mage stepped up. "Err, I didn't do it..." He said suddenly. "Although, don't get me wrong, I'm not entirely broken up about it. Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down."

Lyria laughed out loud, almost sarcastically. No one else dared move or make a sound and no one (except maybe the mage) found it at all funny. Lyria, however, found it rather ironic that she would save Cullen's life once again as well as finding him in the same room as Anders, a mage she had met and hated a long time ago. Mhairi swept into the room just as Lyria sheathed her swords and took a step forward, finally noticing the dark look in Cullen's eyes.

"Hey, I remember you! You were the one I-" Came Anders' voice again, before he shut up rather quickly.

Lyria gave him a menacing grin, making him back up slightly. "Yes, I remember it quite vividly. Me stuck, caught by the templars and you running away before they could notice... What a good friend you were back then, Anders." Her voice drawled in sarcasm and she took some pleasure in the scared look on his face. The two of them had tried to escape the Tower together once, and he had left her to be caught while he ran away to his freedom. He had eventually been caught, and she had screamed and shouted at him and thrown things and set his things on fire until he had escaped again. And again. And again.

"Looks like you failed yet another escape attempt, Anders." She said sweetly, watching his expression intently.

"Hey I could always cheat and become a warden like you did." He muttered, shoving his hands in his robe pockets with a sigh.

Lyria was brought back to Cullen as he cleared his throat. "We were only here to get the mage-"

"Hey, I have a name!"

"-and then we were planning to leave. We were not meant to get caught up in this. This is your fight." He sounded oddly like he was saying it was her fault, but she supposed she couldn't blame him for it. During the blight, the tower had become over-run with demons and Cullen had been one of the templars to be imprisoned there, tortured and battered by demons until he had almost lost his mind.

She had saved him and killed the mage who was responsible, but that couldn't change anything that Uldred had done. It couldn't stop him from blaming her. It couldn't stop him from hating her for being what she was.

"Yes, and I'm sorry you were caught up in it. But I'm here now and I plan on stopping this."

He stood, glaring at her. "That's all you have to say? You don't care that my men were killed? That I lost my friends to your enemies?"

Her own eyes narrowed into a glare. Once upon a time, back at the circle, that glare had been enough to send people running away in terror. "You lost your men? Two of them?" She said, gesturing to the fallen templars.

He corrected her instantly, "Four, I am the only survivor."

"Fine, four men. I feel for you, I really do but please take into consideration the amount of MY people who have died here today, protecting your sorry asses. You might have lost your men, Cullen, but those wardens who died mean more to this world than a couple of templars, no matter who they were." She knew she was being a bit harsh on him, but it was exactly how she felt. How could those four templars compare to the twenty or thirty wardens who had died that night? They were the ones who protected the city, no the entire country. She felt tears burning in the corner of her eyes as she thought. They'd had no one to lead them, if she had gotten there earlier...

She shook her head from those thoughts, she couldn't change the past no matter how much she wanted to, and there would be a time and a place to mourn those that had given their lives, right now there was still a battle to fight and she had to win it.

She sighed, giving Cullen an apologetic look. "Once the darkspawn are gone you can go, but I can't let you leave while they are still lurking around. There's too many for you to handle on your own."

"Then we'll come with you..?" Anders suggested, "Not that I really want to but, death by darkspawn or death by Lyria?" He used his hands to weigh out his options before leaning towards the later. "Yup, definitely liking that idea."

"Maybe they would be useful?" Mhairi said from behind her. "Mages are usually good at dealing with darkspawn and a templar must be good with a sword, right?"

Cullen almost growled, "Why would I go with you?"

Anders sighed dramatically while gesturing towards himself and Lyria, "Didn't I just go over that?"

"Look, you either come with us, where we can keep you safe, or you stay here and risk being a darkspawn chew toy. Your choice?" Lyria demanded, although secretly she was hoping he would choose to stay with them. She really didn't want to see him hurt.

He sighed as he slowly nodded, "Fine."

She nodded back, their eyes meeting one last time before she strode across the room to the back entrance, which led out onto one of the balconies. "Come on, lets get going. We've got darkspawn to kill."

* * *

><p>A.N: This is an idea I've had swimming in my head for a long time so its good to have it written down for a change, I'm already working on the next chapter so I hope you're all liking it so far. I probably won't be updating this at a regular time, but as soon as I'm finished writing I can get the next chapter out.<p>

I hope my spelling isn't too bad, I have checked it but knowing my luck there will be plenty more typos -_-'. Anyway, thanks to everyone reading and feel free to leave a review :)


	2. Old Friends

2. Old Friends

They hadn't gotten very far when a wave of monsters rounded on them. Mhairi was the first to draw her sword and throw herself into the sea of darkspawn, slashing wildly as she went. Lyria followed, sword in hand, swiping away at any darkspawn that came too close. She kept as far back as possible though, trying to keep an eye on Cullen and Anders who were not accustomed to battling darkspawn.

She noticed that Anders, although he had no weapon, was moving his arms around, a look of concentration on his face. An instant later a cold breeze filled the area and a wave of ice crossed over the darkspawn. Cullen's sword swung through their bodies, knocking them in half easily.

Mhairi took a nasty blow to the stomach and doubled over, just as Lyria stepped in and blocked the blow which was meant to kill the recruit. The surprised hurlock turned, but the sharp edge of her blade sliced across its throat before it could even react. The last darkspawn fell and the group of four stood upright once more while Lyria silently checked that everyone was accounted for and still breathing.

Once she was satisfied she motioned for the others to follow and continued on. Cullen, who brought up the rear of the group, couldn't keep his eyes off of her form. He would never admit it, but he was amazed. He had seen her carrying a sword before but it had never registered in his mind that she would actually use it to fight with. She was a mage who could summon amazing powers to the tips of her fingers, she didn't need a sword and most mages would laugh at the very idea. But she hadn't, she had fought with the sword as if it were an extension of her arm, with amazing strength and speed. Her movements were jerky and her face had been scrunched up in concentration, but it was very clear to Cullen that she had spent a long time training with that sword. And to see someone of her height and weight walking around with all that armour on, he was amazed she hadn't fallen flat onto her face yet.

He forced his gaze away as they entered another set of doors and he instantly felt the rush of mana. But he knew neither of the mages in their party were the culprits. They rounded the corner and there stood five genlocks, one of them brandishing a small staff. He openly gaped at the creature. He had seen darkspawn before, read of them in plenty of books and heard various tales about them, but never once had he heard of magic wielding darkspawn.

"Emissary!" Lyria shouted and instantly she was sprinting towards the darkspawn, her hands gripping the hilt of her sword so tightly her gloves creaked with the effort.

Mhairi charged after her with a yell, jumping into the fray just as quickly. As she sliced off one genlocks head and turned to clash blades with another, Anders growled as he dragged the life force from one, draining them of health to replenish his own. He quickly sent a bolt of energy towards another, leaving the genlock fazed enough for Cullen's blade to slice through its body.

Cullen saw the emissary swing his staff down like a club, straight for Lyria's side. His heart almost stopped in fear of her getting hurt but he needn't have worried, almost instantly her sword came up and parried the blow, and she grinned as the genlock was suddenly engulfed in a circle of light that gripped at its body and squeezed until the darkspawn cried out in pain.

He was so near to her now that he acted instinctively. He couldn't help himself, as soon as the sense of her mana touched him a force leaked out from his body, a wave of cleansing energy. He let out a gasp as her spell fizzled out and the genlock was released from its prison, and at the same time Lyria's legs buckled from under her and her entire body crashed to the ground with a loud thud. Anders groaned from behind him, he had doubled over, planting his hands on his thighs to try and keep upright. The mage's face was still up, his expression one of pure hate as he glared at the templar.

The genlock almost laughed as it had a clear shot at the commander, who had fallen right in front of it. It's staff rose high in the air to whack her again but Mhairi's blade reached him first, impaling the creature through the back until its body went rigid and fell from the sword.

Mhairi glared at Cullen as she helped Lyria back to her feet, "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't- I didn't..." He trailed off as Lyria finally got back to her feet and let out a deep breath. She looked pale but she didn't look angry with him. Her gaze passed over his form, to Anders and then to the woman at her side, before nodding her thanks to Mhairi and stepping forward on her own.

"It's alright. I guess I deserved that one." She turned her back before another word could be uttered and stormed off through the keep, Mhairi hot on her heels. Anders gave him a dirty look as he passed and Cullen sighed as he once again took up the position of rear guard. He really could not wait to get out of there.

* * *

><p>The group walked in silence for the majority of the time, apart from when Anders had a sarcastic comment to make about Cullen. But the templar had taken to staying silent, too tired and angry to even take notice anymore.<p>

He almost walked straight into Mhairi as the group came to a stop after walking through the entrance hall and into a side room. Sounds of battle filled his ears and he looked from the ensuing battle to Lyria, who was grinning madly.

He looked back up, only now noticing the small red-headed dwarf that was swinging a battleaxe around himself, knocking darkspawn away with every swing while yelling and cursing as he did.

Mhairi sighed, as if she was suddenly bored, and as Cullen stepped forward determined to help the dwarf, Lyria's hand shot out and stopped him. He didn't understand why until he looked back up, the dwarf only had one opponent left. The axe swung around, hitting the hurlock in the knees and sending it sprawling to the ground. With a sickening crunch, the axe was embedded in its head.

The dwarf turned and waved, stepping down the small set of stairs until he was face to face with the group, not before belching loudly and chuckling to himself though. "There you are! When these darkspawn showed up I thought 'just you wait until the new commander gets here and you'll all be spitting teeth out of your asses.'" He laughed to himself before continuing. "Followed the screaming, and sure enough, here you are."

Lyria stepped forward, placing a hand on the dwarf's shoulder as she did. "Oghren, didn't think I'd see you here."

"Doubting your eyes, huh? I get like that after the fifth bottle or so... Came here thinking I might try my hand at becoming a Grey Warden."

Mhairi tuted, "He was here when I left, I can't believe the wardens didn't throw him out already."

Lyria turned to her with one eyebrow raised but turned her attention back to Oghren as he spoke again. "Oh hey, its the recruit with the great rack!"

Mhairi sent Lyria a look but the commander only laughed under her breath, spending so much time with Oghren during the blight had made her come to appreciate his sense of humor, to a certain point anyway.

"Hey, who's the mage? New boyfriend?"

Anders' eyebrows shot up, "Would you look at that, a dwarf that smells like a brewery. You never see that anywhere!"

"Huh, a mage comedian. Thought those didn't last long... And who's this? Not one of those pansy temp-"

Lyria sighed with a small smile, knowing she would have to step in now before Oghren insulted her entire party. "Back right up there, Oghren. You, a warden? It's not quite that easy, you know? There are risks..."

He made a strange noise that sounded like 'ppffft' before grinning, "There are risks to getting up in the morning, I piss on risk!"

Anders and Mhairi shared a look, "I'm sure risk appreciates it..."

Lyria shook her head, "Right then, I suppose we can continue this later on. There's still darkspawn around." She gestured to the next door and the group all nodded together.

"Yes commander." Mhairi was instantly at her side as they continued through the keep. They hadn't gone on for much longer when once again they stopped dead in their tracks, Mhairi rushing forwards to an injured soldier who was laying on the ground, hardly alive. "Roland!" She gestured over the commander who knelt down at their side with them, "Commander, Roland was a knight recruited from Denerim, like me. We have to do something to help him!"

Lyria looked over the man's injuries with a small wince, she was no expert at healing but even she could tell it would take a lot of healing power to make him anywhere near being able to stand. She'd only seen that kind of healing from one mage before, Wynne, and she was not there to help them out now.

Anders stood behind her thinking over the exact same thing, "He looks beyond healing magic, perhaps a shot of whiskey for the pain?" His face crumpled up into a sympathetic expression as he watched Mhairi fuss over her friend.

Lyria interrupted Oghrens voice, knowing he would only upset Mhairi further. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry we couldn't get here any faster."

Roland looked so pale and it was obviously hurting him to speak, but he did anyway. "We only had a moments warning before... Oh commander! The seneschal! He went after it, the darkspawn that talked!"

"Talked?" Lyria echoed, she'd never heard of the darkspawn talking before. They were always just twisted monsters, puppets willing to do the work of the archdemon. They didn't have minds or voices, they only growled like dogs.

"It's magic... Was so powerful." Roland coughed up blood as he spoke, his body shaking. "The seneschal, commander. He went that way..." He barely lifted his hand but they all stared at the door in the furthest corner of the room. When they looked back, Roland's head had fallen down against his chest, his breathing stopped completely.

Mhairi closed her eyes in silent mourning while Lyria stood and turned away, her mind racing. Mhairi stood behind her, "We should do something with his body."

"We don't have time. You heard what he said, we need to find the seneschal." She hated being harsh with the woman but she was telling the truth, they had no time to move Roland when they could be loosing yet another ally.

Lyria sped out the room, not waiting for the others to catch up as a new determination settled in her body. She had to win, she just had to.

* * *

><p>AN: It's a little shorter this time but I wanted to leave it there for now. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon. Thank you to anyone reading and to Lil' Bunny Lynn-Lynn for your review :)


	3. Welcome to Vigils Keep

3. Welcome to Vigil's Keep 

They knew they had made their way onto a balcony as soon as they opened the door and felt the rain pouring down on them. The weather hadn't chanced much, lightning was flashing overhead and a rumble of thunder almost shook the entire building.

Lyria very nearly growled as she felt the tell tale sensations running through her mind, there were more darkspawn nearby. They reached the corner of the building and she poked her head around to see just how many they would be facing, when her breath caught in her throat.

There was a man knelt on the floor, a darkspawn blade pressed to his throat. Another hurlock, wearing spiked armour and a dark cloak, was advancing on him. She guessed the man was the seneschal, since she had never met him before, and her thoughts were confirmed when Mhairi pointed them out. Along with the hurlock there stood four others.

"Be taking this one gently." The darkspawn said, and the entire group gasped after hearing it. Lyria's mouth fell open, if this darkspawn was smart enough to speak... what else could it do? "We are wishing no more death than is necessary."

The seneschal glared at them, "Necessary? As if your kind has ever done anything else."

The darkspawn looked as if he were grinning, "You are thinking you know of our kind, human. It is understandable, but that will soon be changed."

Lyria stepped out at that moment, enough was enough and she wanted things to end now. "You've got that right." She growled as the group stepped out together and the darkspawn all turned to them. They didn't look at all surprised, they had probably sensed that Lyria had been there the entire time.

"Commander!" The seneschal called, but didn't dare move since he still had a blade close to his neck.

The darkspawn stared at them, "Capture the Grey Warden, these others can be killed."

Within seconds the area was filled with the flash of metal and the noises of battle. Lyria's first spell was directed at the hurlock holding the seneschal down, and after he fled the scene covered in flames she gestured Anders over to him. Anders didn't need to be told, he helped the man up to his feet and sent a quick wave of healing energy over him. He stayed at his side to keep the darkspawn away.

Lyria joined in with the others, slashing at the darkspawn with her sword. She tried her best not to use magic in case Cullen decided to knock her down again and instead focused all her attention on remembering the moves Alistair and Zevran had taught her all that time ago.

The battle was over a lot quicker than she had anticipated, with her sword slicing through the darkspawn leader's neck and cleaving its head from its shoulders. Mhairi looked slightly green and Cullen's eyebrows had risen ever so slightly, Oghren didn't even seem to notice and continued to smack the body with his axe until it fell to the ground.

Slowly they all turned, sheathing their weapons as they did. The seneschal wobbled over to them, "Commander, I owe you my life, thank you. I am Seneschal Varel."

She only nodded back, thankful to have saved somebody. "How did this happen?"

"I have no idea how the darkspawn came across us undetected. But there was just too many of them for us... I saw this one," He gestured to the dead darkspawn at their feet, "And I couldn't believe my eyes, a talking darkspawn. I followed him out here and was ambushed. I'm not sure if..."

He was interrupted by the sounds of marching feet and Lyria finally realised that the rain had stopped falling. She turned to look over the balcony edge and almost groaned. Just what she needed.

Coming up the path was a small army of men, all dressed in armour that showed the crest of the King. As much as she welcomed her friends presence, she was slightly annoyed that he hadn't gotten there any earlier. She sighed as she led the group back through the keep to meet the King down in the courtyard.

* * *

><p>Their boots squelched in the mud as they walked down to the courtyard where the army of people were slowly coming to a halt.<p>

King Alistair stood right at the front, looking slightly annoyed, with a man in silver armour (his captain) to his left and a woman in full templar armour to his right. Behind them stood the rest of the small army, made up of the King's men and a couple of templars.

As they neared, Alistair's head whipped up and a bright grin appeared on his lips. Lyria and the others stepped forward, herself, Mhairi and Varel bowing low.

Lyria was so focused on Alistair she blanked out the shocked look on Anders' face as he quickly stepped up behind Cullen, using the templars body to hide his own. Cullen wasn't looking much better though, his face had turned a slight green colour and his eyes kept darting to the woman at the King's side.

"It looks like I've arrived a bit late..." The king said while motioning for the three of them to rise back to their feet. Although he had never met the man and woman, he had never liked seeing Lyria bowing down to him, and any friend of hers was a friend of his. "Too bad, I rather miss the whole darkspawn killing thing."

Lyria stood back to her feet and grinned up at her best friend. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, Alistair, but why are you here?"

She ignored Mhairi's gasp as she said 'Alistair' and not 'King Alistair' which would have been the formal name to use.

"I wanted to come and give the wardens a formal welcome. I certainly wasn't expecting this though..." He looked around, noting the broken walls and the smoke still rising from where the fires had been. As well as the corpses of darkspawn and soldiers. "What's the situation?"

Varel spoke before Lyria could make any smart comments. "What darkspawn remained have fled, your majesty. The grey wardens who had originally arrived from Orlais appear to be either dead, or missing..."

Alistair and Lyria shared a look and she nodded to confirm Varel's story. "Missing? Do darkspawn even do that?"

"I've never heard of it before." Lyria said, "It is slightly worrying..." She pondered over whether she should say something about the talking darkspawn but Alistair continued before she could open her mouth.

"I see... At least you are still here and alive. That's something right?" His expression showed just how relieved he was that she was still standing there.

"Yes, I'm fine. I had plenty of help." She sent a look over her shoulder and Alistair seemed to register the group of people behind her for the first time. He sent them a small smile before turning back to the commander. "This does complicate things though."

"That's a bit of an understatement, isn't it? Uh you'll be quite busy here, I imagine. But if anyone is up to the job, I know it would be you. I'd love to stay and help but..."

She couldn't help herself, "Anora has you whipped already."

He laughed even though he had gone slightly red in the face, Oghren's howling laughter behind them didn't help at all. Eventually he cleared his throat, "I'm afraid you're on your own for the moment."

"Hey!" Came Oghren's voice as he forcefully knocked Cullen out of the way in his eagerness to step forward. "What am I? Chopped nug livers?"

"Your Majesty!"

Alistair turned to the woman at his right, who was pointing at Anders, now fully visible to the entire crowd. "This man is a dangerous criminal."

Alistair laughed, "Oh the dwarf's a bit annoying but I wouldn't go that far."

"She means me..." Came Anders' reply, his head hanging. He'd hoped that Lyria would have helped him out, given him a free pass or something and let him go without a fight. Obviously he hadn't thought more templars would show up and now he really was in trouble.

Ser Rylock stepped forward, "This is an apostate who we were in the process of bring back to the circle to face justice. I sent five men to collect him..." Her eyes wandered over to Cullen who was squirming in his place. "Where are the others?"

"They're dead..." He muttered, their faces still turning over in his mind.

Rylock took a deep breath and turned to Anders. "You killed them?"

"No!" He shook his head furiously, looking to Cullen for support but the templar was staring at the ground, unable to say or do anything. "No, I didn't... I-"

"No more of this, you will be taken back to the circle and I shall have you executed for the murder of innocent men!" Rylock shouted, she stepped forward and grabbed Anders by the arm, nearly pulling him over in the process. But then she stopped, and looked down to her own arm in surprise.

Lyria was holding onto her, her hand closing over the humans wrist. Her eyes were flashing dangerously as she glared up at the templar. "You aren't taking him back." The mage then pushed Rylock away with all her strength and Anders was free, if only for a moment, until Lyria grabbed him and pulled him back so her own body was blocking his.

"You foolish girl, he is an apostate! A criminal! He must be put to justice!"

"Justice?" Anders said from behind her, scoffing. "The things you people know about justice would fit into a thimble."

Lyria shushed him as Rylock made to grab him again, but Lyria forced her to stop.

"Get off me, you... you-"

"Take him if you can, templar." The elf laughed, before she turned and gave Anders an apologetic look, "Anders has proven himself a capable fighter and a good person to have at your back, so I hereby conscript him into the Grey Wardens."

Rylock looked as if she were frothing from the mouth, she was so angry, her eyes glaring at Lyria. "What? Never! He is a criminal!"

"I believe the grey wardens still retain the right of conscription." Alistair said while giving Lyria a strange look. "I will allow it."

Rylock growled under her breath until her eyes set on Cullen's form once again, and he shifted in his place nervously. "I am not happy about this, but I have no choice. You, templar, you will stay here to watch the criminal. I want a monthly report about his whereabouts. Do you understand?"

"Wha-?" Cullen's mouth snapped shut as her eyes narrowed dangerously. His face fell, his expression showing his deep anger and annoyance but he nodded anyway, barely getting his words out. "Yes, ser."

Rylock turned to Anders with a fierce look, "And you, I will hear about everything you do. If you so much as step one toe out of line..."

"This is ridiculous!" Lyria fumed, "He is now officially a warden recruit and you have no right over what happens to him. As his commander it will be my job to keep an eye on him, not you or any templar."

"And I will be holding you responsible for his actions..." Rylock said before stepping away, disappearing in the crowd of silent soldiers who eagerly stepped out of her path to avoid her shoving them out the way.

Lyria's fists balled at her side, her gloves creaking with the effort. "Argh, I could just-"

"Lyri," Came Alistair's soft voice, "Just let it be. It would be better for us all if we all just got along."

She relaxed her fists and nodded, she wouldn't let people like Rylock get her worked up. She was no longer just an ordinary warden, she was a commander and an Arlessa and she had to keep her act together.

"Ha! Way to go, kids. Welcome aboard!" Came Oghren's loud voice once more as he thumped Anders on the back and stared up at Cullen.

Anders looked as if he wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. "Me, a Grey Warden? I guess that could work..."

"Since you seem to have everything under control once more, I should take my leave..." Alistair said unhappily, "The security of Ferelden relies on the grey wardens now, even weakened as the order is. Good luck, Commander." He stepped forward and engulfed her in a hug, which was awkward with all their armour, before he turned and left, the rest of his men following after.

Lyria let out a deep sigh as she watched his back vanish from the area. She turned to the people around her: three recruits and a very annoyed templar that didn't want to be there. The next few days were going to be fun.

"Come on." She said as she led the group back into the keep and into the main hall where they met an older woman. She was standing in the middle of the room with a couple of servants who had only survived the attacks by hiding in closets. The woman was helping them move the tables back into place and finally she looked up at the group and smiled.

"Ah, this is Eliza." Varel said as he walked over to the woman with relief on his face, "She was the head maid for keep's former occupants. She decided to stay here to help out."

The woman smiled warmly, "It is an honor to say I serve the wardens. Although I do hope these attacks are not a common occurrence, I fear I shall never finish clearing up."

Lyria instantly liked the woman and gave her a smile.

"I suppose you're all tired? I can show you to some rooms, if you like?" Eliza said.

Varel turned to Lyria, "We should start preparing for the joining soon. We need as many wardens as possible."

Lyria only shook her head tiredly, "Tomorrow, Varel. It's been a long day, I think we all need some rest first."

Her thoughts were echoed by a murmur from almost everyone and Eliza chuckled, "Very well, come this way. I will make sure to prepare you all some breakfast in the morning, can't have you all starving to death, can I?"

The group looked to be in slightly better spirits as Eliza found the recruits and Cullen empty rooms until finally there was just Lyria and Varel left.

"We have a lot of work to do." Varel said as they walked.

"Yes, operation clean-up begins first thing in the morning. And then the joining." She sighed, knowing the following couple of days were going to be hard on everyone. The King's words repeated in her mind, and a sudden feeling of helplessness overcame her. How was she supposed to do all of this on her own?

He stopped at his door, giving her a small smile. "Don't worry, you will do just fine." He disappeared into his room and she was left with a surprised look on her face. He had only just met her, how could he be so confident in her abilities?

Eliza nudged her and finally they came to her own room. She thanked the maid and stepped inside, instantly feeling better as the warmth from the fire hit her. She stripped off her armour and sunk down onto the bed, knowing that she would have trouble sleeping that night.

* * *

><p>AN: Thank you to all my readers, and LifeandFire25 for their review :)


	4. The Joining

4: The Joining

Just as she had predicted, she had hardly slept at all that night and when she did finally wake up she had to stop herself from crying out in shock. She had thought all those horrible things were just a bad dream, but it was all real.

She was the commander, with an entire building that needed fixing and cleaning, not to mention the amount of bodies that were probably still being cleared away. She would have to organise some sort of funeral service to mourn those that lost their lives... And the joining. Her new recruits would have to go through the joining and not all of them might survive. And on top of all that the darkspawn problems were as confusing as ever. What was with the talking darkspawn? Was there more that could talk? Why and how were they so organised?

She shook her head, forcing her dark thoughts to fall from her mind. One thing at a time, she reminded herself as she stood from the bed and rubbed at her tired eyes. She took a look around her room, she had been too tired to take in her surroundings the night before.

The fire that had once given out all the heat was now gone, only small embers left in the fireplace. Her room was decorated in a dark maroon colour, with a four poster bed and a small desk off to one side. A wooden trunk was laying at the end of the bed opposite a huge wardrobe. Next to that there was a door which led into a small bathroom.

She stared at the tub for a long time before she finally filled it with water and sunk her aching body inside, instantly feeling better as the warmth hit her. She washed and dressed herself, taking a robe dress from the wardrobe which would be a lot more comfortable to walk around in than her usual armour. Lastly, she fished under her pillow and pulled out her prized dagger, an old gift from a friend, and placed in in a sheath at her thigh so that the dress just about covered it up.

Placing a fake smile on her lips she made her way through the keep, trying to remember her way until she came across the main hall. She stepped inside, opening the double doors as she did and couldn't help but laugh at the scene if front of her.

Eliza and Varel were standing at the back of the room talking with each other, their eyes were shinning with laughter as they watched across the hall. Sitting at the table in the middle of the room was the rest of her mis-matched group. Mhairi was glaring across the table at Oghren, who was trying his best to imitate her while downing a tankard of beer and Anders, sitting next to Mhairi was not so subtly trying to stare down the woman's shirt while at the same time stuffing food down his throat. Cullen was standing against the wall in full armour, an unamused scowl on his face.

Lyria's appearance had them all turning to look at her, guilty looks on Anders and Oghren's faces whereas Mhairi looked glad. Cullen's expression remained much the same.

"There you are." Varel said as he marched over to her, "Come, sit and eat. You'll need as much energy as you can for today." She nodded and took a seat besides Oghren so that she wouldn't have to see Cullen glaring at her.

Plates of food were lined along the table and Lyria openly helped herself, suddenly thankful for Eliza being there. "Its a good job I made lots," The woman said as she joined them at the table, "I heard that wardens ate a lot."

Lyria grinned as she grabbed up a piece of bred and some meat that was still left, "I'm the only real warden here, these guys are just pigs."

Mhairi looked offended but laughed as Anders and Oghren made a point to stuff their faces even more. And for the first time since going to the keep, Lyria felt a wave of happiness wash over her. This felt normal, or at least as normal as life as a warden could get. In a way it reminded her of the many stories Alistair had told her about his time as a warden before the Blight.

After filling their bellies and listening to Oghrens very strange stories about his latest drunken dream, (involving darkspawn wearing dresses and his ex-wife coming back to life just to tell him she'd finished cooking some pies) the group stood and Lyria stared up at their happy faces.

"All right everyone, we need to get started today. We need to get the keep back in order and all this mess cleaned up. It shouldn't take long if we all help out."

Varel's gaze caught her attention and she spoke before he could even open his mouth. "We will perform the joining later on this evening, I don't think it's such a good idea after eating a big breakfast." Varel nodded in sudden understanding and clapped his hands together, he begun to tell everyone what needed doing and what parts of the buildings would need fixing or clearing. Eliza agreed to get all her maids to help out as well as the other survivors that the group had saved the day before.

Just as everyone set off, Lyria sped up to Anders' side. "Can I speak with you in my office as soon as you're ready?" She left the room as fast as possible so that he wouldn't ask why, leaving the group with confused looks on their faces.

"What did I do? I'm not in trouble already, am I?"

* * *

><p>It was only a couple of minutes after she had arrived in her office that the door opened to reveal Anders standing just outside. She gestured for him to enter and he did, taking a seat in front of her desk while Cullen stalked in behind him and leaned against the wall, looking very much like a grumpy teenager.<p>

Lyria stared at him to get his attention but the templar ignored her gaze until she cleared her throat. "Cullen, what are you doing? I asked to speak with Anders..."

"Yes, and it is my job to watch over him and report to Ser Rylock-" It was the first thing she had heard him say since he had been commanded to stay at the keep, but still she interrupted him quickly.

"And this is warden business which you have no part in. I need to speak with Anders alone." He gave her a look which clearly read as 'I don't care if it's my business or not, I'm here to do my job,' and she sighed, hating that she had been put in this position. Cullen would never learn to trust her or to be comfortable around her again if she was constantly being forced to shove him away from them all.

She made a mental note to sort that out later, it was just one more thing to do on an already huge list.

"I can keep an eye on Anders while he's in here, he isn't going to turn into an abomination or anything." She watched how his eyes narrowed but he straightened up and headed for the door anyway. He closed it behind him and the two mages heard the shuffle of his armour as he stood just outside.

Lyria growled under her breath, "Ah he is so annoying. What's up with him anyway?"

Anders shrugged, "Is this really warden business? Or did you just want him out of the way?"

"A bit of both really..." She said and he realised she looked almost nervous. She sat down opposite him and fiddled with some papers that were already scattered there, she probably hadn't read them or even stopped to notice that the writings had once belonged to Arl Howe, the former owner of the building.

"Anders I just wanted to make sure you were okay with all this..." She started, her hands gesturing around her as if it could sum up their whole situation, "Is this what you want?"

He was surprised at her words but he nodded quickly, "How could I not want to be here? You saved me from the templars and finally I'm free. Why wouldn't I want this?"

"Please don't mistake this as being free, Anders." She said carefully. "Being a warden is not the same. Yes you are free from the circle and the templars," her eyes shot to the door, "most of them, but this is... There are a lot of things that tie wardens down. Once you accept this there is no turning back, you cannot change your mind. You will be forced to do your job, to fulfil your duty to this country by the order and by... er yourself."

He didn't understand half of what she was talking about so he kept quiet and let her carry on, hoping that something would make sense eventually.

"Becoming a warden is such a dramatic change in your life, Anders. You will never be the same, forever changed. And that is only IF you become a warden."

"If?" He repeated incredulously, "That's just great, this is another of those tests just like the Harrowing, isn't it?"

"It is dangerous, yes..."

His face turned into a satisfied smirk, "Are you worried about me?"

But she only glared back at him, her eyes like icy daggers. "Worried? Ha!"

"Obviously not..." He said quietly, although he missed the look in her eyes which clearly said she was worried about him. "So why am I getting this talk and not the others then?"

"The others made this decision on their own. Mhairi decided she was going to be a grey warden when she was just a girl, she had heard so many heroic stories about us and she was fascinated. After the Blight she was one of the first to sign up. And Oghren, well he's fought and survived against darkspawn his whole life. He was one of my companions and he fought at my side against the Archdemon. But you, Anders... I conscripted you into the order without your consent and I may well have just given you a death sentence. I want to give you a choice..."

He had leaned across the desk so he was as close to her as he could possibly get, wanting to hear more.

"You either commit yourself to the wardens, and promise me that you will complete the joining, no matter the outcome or you run away with your freedom and your life intact."

He stared, gaping at her for a few minutes. "Why? Why would you just let me leave?"

"I don't want to see any of you hurt. But your chances are slim. So I'm giving you this choice now, so just like the others, you can decide if this is where you want to be. You should know, if you begin the joining and decide to back out before it is completed I will be forced to stop you."

"What about him?" He asked pointing to the door where they both knew Cullen was waiting, hopefully not eavesdropping.

"I don't know, I'd make up something." She said with a shrug. She saw his confused face and sighed, "I can give you until this evening to make up your mind?"

But he shook his head instantly. "You're telling me I either stay here and I might die from a darkspawn blade or I leave, run away as an apostate and get captured and killed by templars, or worse made tranquil... No, I know what I want." She looked him in the eye and was surprised to see the determination reflecting there. "I'm staying. If there's even a chance I will survive, then I'll take it. Running away will only lead me to disaster, and as you so helpfully pointed out yesterday my attempts at freedom never end well."

She smiled at him, "I do make some good points." She stood at the same time as Anders and nodded, "Then I officially welcome you to the team. You best get back to helping out, right?"

He groaned but left the room and she sighed as she watched him walk down the corridor, Cullen at his back. She was glad he had agreed to stay, but part of her was also disappointed. She had never been friends with Anders, they had just used each other back at the circle, but that didn't mean she wanted him to die. She didn't want any of her recruits to die but the truth was it was very unlikely that they would all survive. She had never heard of a joining that didn't have at least one death.

Her own joining was a memory still burned into her brain, and it would never leave her...

_"Daveth!" _

_Her mind was reeling as she watched the rouge fall to the floor at her feet, his eyes had turned black and his skin was deathly pale. It had happened so fast... One minute he had been there, laughing and happy, and the next that tainted blood had touched his lips and in an instant, he was gone._

_Her eyes were drawn upwards as the sound of shouting filled her ears, the strange sensation of something warm and wet splashing across her cheeks, her robes. She looked down at herself, seeing crimson liquid that was not her own slowly trickling down her front. Her gaze followed the splatters until she found the source, a pool of blood underneath Ser Jory's limp body... And Duncan's sword, still dripping._

_'To protect their secret', he told her after seeing her horrified expression..._

_She couldn't understand why. Two more dead and only her to go..._

And she was terrified that she would have to do exactly what Duncan had. Make a sacrifice, destroy someone's life to protect her own.

* * *

><p>The sun had finally set and the keep was beginning to fall back into shape. There were no more bodies laying in the halls, the windows that were broken had been repaired or boarded up, the rubble had been cleared and the maids had done an amazing job in cleaning up the blood and other mushy stuff that had been all over the place. It was finally starting to look something like an actual keep.<p>

As well as having fixed the place up Varel had travelled over to the city of Aramanthine and hired some soldiers so there were now plenty of people running around the keep helping out.

And yet even though everything seemed to be going to plan it was a very somber Lyria that emerged from her duties and found herself sitting alone in the hall, waiting for the recruits and Varel to arrive.

The great golden goblet stood on the table, almost mocking her as she stared at it. She was dreading this moment.

The great doors opened and Varel entered with Mhairi, Oghren, Anders and an annoyed looking Cullen. Lyria glanced around, catching Varels gaze to which he only shrugged. She stood, feeling cold and empty, her voice devoid of any emotion as she shouted over to the templar. "You can't be in here for this, Cullen. This is strictly wardens only. No exceptions."

Cullen looked as if he had been waiting to be told this, his mouth opened for a second to make a comment, but he seemed to change his mind instantly and moved out of the room with a huff. Lyria felt kind of sorry for him, but she had worse thoughts on her mind.

Varel came over to her as the recruits were talking amongst themselves, wondering what the joining would entail and how dangerous it really was. "You have everything you need?" He asked quickly, gesturing over to the table.

She nodded, the goblet was still on the table, and just behind it was a cloth covering the three tiny bottles of darkspawn blood that had been treated with lyrium. "Yes, thank you, Varel."

He bowed his head, "I shall take my leave. Good luck." He whisked out the room and closed the doors behind him. The hall was suddenly plunged into silence and Lyria motioned for the three recruits to step forward.

They stood before her in a row, anxious faces staring back at her.

"What do we need to do?"

"Where's the giant goblet? That thing's tiny-"

"Shhh you two."

Lyria cleared her throat to stop their voices, "Once the Joining is over, you will be forever changed. As much as I would like to warn you, it goes against every rule... I promise to answer any questions afterwards, but for now, you have made your oaths to the order and you must complete the joining."

She dug back into her memory, snatching up the words that would be forever etched in her mind. The words that Alistair had said at her own joining. "Join us brothers and sisters, join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn, and should you perish know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten, and that one day we will shall join you."

She stepped back, grabbing the goblet off the table and uncovering the vials, she took the first and emptied it into the cup, before holding it out for Oghren to take. "From this moment on, Oghren you are a grey warden."

He looked incredulously at the goblet and Lyria braced herself for an outburst.

"We have to drink darkspawn blood? That's it?"

She turned to Anders and nodded, "That's it..."

Mhairi nodded her head in determination. "This will not stand in my way."

She turned back to Oghren expectantly, but his words surprised her. "What's this, the sampler size? You trying to say something about my height?" She couldn't bring herself to smile or laugh, so instead she only shook her head, wringing her hands behind her back.

She could barely watch as he threw the goblet back and the let the liquid run down his throat. She hastily grabbed the goblet from his hands and watched as his head lifted, his eyes shinning white, as if clouded by smoke. He belched then. "Hmm not bad." And his eyes slowly returned to normal as Lyria's heartbeat slowed slightly.

She took the second vial and emptied it into the goblet, her eyes meeting Anders' as she passed it over. "From this moment on, Anders you are a grey warden." He spent a few seconds watching the blood, watching as it swirled around in the cup before his eyes met hers once again.

"Alright, if I wake up two weeks from now on a ship bound for Rivain in nothing but my small clothes and a tattoo on my forehead, I'm blaming you. Here goes." He tipped the goblet back and drank, before passing it back to Lyria. His breath hitched in his throat before his eyes opened, bearing the same whiteness that had clouded Oghren's eyes just moments ago.

He stumbled, his legs giving way under him and they watched as he fell to the floor in a heap. Mhairi gasped but refrained from moving from her spot as Lyria knelt down beside the mage and checked his pulse. She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding in as she felt the steady beat of his heart. "He's alive."

She stood and filled the goblet one last time before passing it over to Mhairi, her fingers crossed behind her back. "From this moment on, Mhairi you are a grey warden."

"I have awaited this moment." Her voice was steady and calm, not even the smallest hint of fear and Lyria wished she was as confident. The warrior drank and smiled, her eyes turning white for the barest of seconds before the goblet fell from her grasp and her hands were suddenly at her throat as she coughed and spluttered, her breathing coming out in painful wheezes. Within seconds, she had crumpled on the floor, her breathing stopped completely.

"I'm sorry, Mhairi." Lyria turned away so she wouldn't have to see the girl lying dead, before she turned to Oghren. "Go get Varel."

The dwarf rushed away, too shocked to argue or comment and within minutes the doors were swung open and Varel and Cullen were walking into the room, their faces showing their horror as they saw Mhairi's body. Lyria locked her eyes with Varel before shaking her head and rushing from the room, unable to stay there any longer.

* * *

><p>The sky was clear and the night silent as Lyria stood out in the courtyard. There was a soft breeze whipping her now loose hair across her shoulders as she stared up into the darkness. There were only a few stars visible but they were all bright, white lights, winking down at her.<p>

She loved to see the stars. When the night was clear it would remind her of all the good times she'd had while camping out during the blight. Memories of her and Alistair laying on grass and gazing up while discussing their plans or laughing at the silly things that had happened. But tonight she wasn't with Alistair, and she certainly wasn't laughing.

She sighed as she felt someone walk up beside her, and turned to see Oghren. He seemed to understand and kept quiet, gazing upwards himself. For him the stars were amazing. Having lived under the ground for so long, being out in the open had turned his world upside down.

Footsteps crunched on the ground as well as the creak of armour as Anders and Varel joined them to stare upwards, Cullen followed them but he stood far back from them, as if he thought he was not a part of their group.

Lyria turned her gaze downwards where she had placed two simple candles.

"For Mhairi and Roland, may the maker watch over you." Anders said as his hand outstretched and one candle lit with magical flames.

Varel bowed his head, "For all the wardens who gave their lives defending our home."

He knelt down to light it, but Lyria stopped him. She caught Cullen's gaze before she used her own magic to light the second candle. "And for the templars who were caught in our battle."

The candles burned as brightly as any of the stars as the group stood around them, gazing up into the skies above.


	5. Urgent Matters

5. Urgent matters

The second night at Vigil's Keep was a complete contrast to the first. Lyria had fallen into a deep sleep as soon as her head had touched her pillow and no dreams of darkspawn had plagued her. She had been in such a deep sleep she hadn't even woken at the slight cries that echoed around the building into the early hours of the morning.

She awoke feeling refreshed and slightly happier, knowing they had overcome the joining and could now get on with their jobs. She desperately wanted to see Oghren and Anders, just to check that they were still okay, but knew it would be far too early to disturb them. She would have plenty of time during the day to talk to them about the changes they would face.

She dressed in a short dress robe and laced up a corset around her chest, followed with a shawl to cover her bare shoulders. She pulled on a pair of knee length boots and messily tied her hair back into a bun, leaving a few wisps of red to frame her face. She was to be meeting some more of the staff that day so she could walk around in her more comfortable outfits once again.

Vigil's Keep was deathly silent as Lyria walked down from her room to the main hall where Varel had wanted to meet with her. She shuffled along the floor, revelling in the cold breeze that filled the room. As she approached she heard voices arguing inside, before she entered the room and everything went silent.

Varel was standing in the middle of the room, a look of relief flooding his eyes as he saw her finally arrive. To his left was a man dressed in full armour, minus a helmet, his blonde curly hair and bright blue eyes standing out against the red tinted metal. And to his right stood an older woman, her white hair tied back and a stern look on her face.

"Commander." Varel bowed to her, stopping only when she grimaced. "This is Captain Garevel," He gestured to the man on his left, and then to the woman. "And Mistress Woolsey. I believe both have important matters to discuss with you."

Lyria mentally groaned, now wishing she had not slept so well and could have had a couple of extra hours in her warm and cosy bed. "Of course."

Mistress Woolsey stood to attention then, as if this was the moment she had been waiting for. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Commander. I was sent by order of the First Warden at Weisshaupt. I am to act as treasurer of the arling of Amaranthine. He believed local men could not be trusted at this post."

Varel gave her an odd look, "One of those local men is standing right here..."

"So..." Lyria started, drawing both of their attentions back to her. "What seems to be the problem, Mistress Woolsey?"

The woman stood to attention once again. "Ser, the arling is on the brink of economic collapse. Trade must flow. Merchant caravans are being systematically attacked somewhere along the Pilgrims Path. It is the only route that can reliably provision an army, feed this city and maintain civilisation."

Lyria nodded along to her words, glad that she was following what the woman had been saying. A part of her had feared she would not understand half the details of ruling the arling, but this she understood completely. "All right, so I'll just head out there and stop whoever it is that's doing the attacking. That should sort things out."

"Indeed. In the city of Amaranthine there is a trader, Marvis, who's caravans have been hit particularly hard. He may know where along the road the darkspawn or whoever they are, are striking." Mistress Woosley supplied quickly.

"Great, I'll head over there to speak with him as soon as I can."

"This is a matter of great importance, Commander. I would advise you to sort this before it gets any worse." Lyria nodded, only half listening to the old woman now. She would get it done when she could, but there were other problems in need of sorting too. She mentally sighed, feeling a lot like she had back during the blight, being pulled one way and then another with everyone expecting her to sort their problems for them.

Of course now it was her job to do so, her mind told her in a grouchy voice.

She turned to the man on the other side of Varel and took a deep breath. "Captain, what did you need?"

She spotted Varel trying to stifle a chuckle out of the corner of her eyes but kept her gaze on the captain as he spoke. "I also have an important matter to bring to your attention. The Orlesians- uh Wardens I mean, began gathering information while they were here. The most promising tale they found was a wild tale a couple of hunters told."

He stopped as if waiting for a response but she hurried him on with a wave of her hand. "These hunters, Colbert and... Well the other one, claimed to have stumbled across an entrance to the Deep Roads. Darkspawn all over the place, they said."

"What?" She quickly interrupted, she knew the Deep Roads tunnelled far under the ground but here in Amaranthine? She had thought the only surface entrances were through the dwarven cities.

"Yes, so I'm sure you can understand how important this matter is. The wardens were just about to send someone to track down Colbert before..."

She nodded, "Yes... Any idea where I could find this Colbert guy?"

"I am told he was last spotted in the city, amongst the refugees outside the city gates."

"Well, I think I have a need to travel to Amaranthine. I can kill two birds with one stone." Lyria said happily. "If that is all, I'd like some time to catch up with my new wardens before I can begin preparing to leave."

Mistress Woosley and Captain Garevel both looked slightly annoyed at the subtle dismissal but nodded and walked from the room together, their footsteps echoing on the stone floors.

As soon as the doors to the hall had been closed behind them Lyria turned back to Varel.

"So, to business then? Orlais sent a group wardens to the Vigil to await your arrival. Nearly all died in the attack, but one of them, Kristoff, is still in the field." Lyria hummed and he continued on. "He left about a fortnight ago to follow up on some leads but we have not heard from him since."

"You think he might be in trouble?"

"With all this talk of darkspawn sightings and the recent attack, perhaps. We thought he might be heading to the city also..."

Lyria smiled at him, "Well since I'm going there already I might as well ask around for him."

* * *

><p>She had paced up and down in her room for long enough, her mind constantly going over everything Anders and Oghren would say or ask her. She really wanted to see them, but she was afraid of seeing their disappointed faces when she told them everything there was to being a warden.<p>

With a low growl she stormed out from her room, and down the hall until she stopped outside Oghren's room. She knocked a few times and waited for at least three minutes while hearing the unmistakable sounds of grunting and the clinking noise of glass bottles hitting each other, before Oghren finally pulled the door open.

He looked no worse than he normally did with a bad hangover, but as she had suspected one look around the room behind him was enough to show how much he had drunk. The counter besides his bed was covered in empty bottles and there was even some, thankfully still half full, rolling on the floor where he had knocked them on his way to the door.

"Do you have to make so much noise?" He grumbled with one hand held over his left ear.

"Did you have a good night's sleep?" She asked sweetly, although she already knew the answer.

"After the sixth bottle of Orlesian wine... Sure."

"Great, we have a couple of things to get done today. We'll be travelling to the city so you should get some things together. I'll need to speak to you and Anders in my office too." He nodded with a huff and she left him to get ready. Even with a hangover he was a decent fighter so she would pay no attention to his behaviour. She had seen it all before anyway.

Her next stop was Anders' room, which as she suspected was being guarded closely by Cullen. She had hoped that he would have given up his attempt at watching Anders by now, but she had obviously thought wrong. Either he was doing it purposefully just to annoy the two mages or he really was that intimidated by Ser Rylock.

She gave him a nod in greeting as she passed his form, not unlike she had many times previously back in the tower, and she stepped up to Anders' door. With only one knock the door swung open and a moody and tired looking Anders squinted down at her.

"Morning, Anders."

"Morning." He groaned back, and Lyria took the opportunity to study his appearance. His entire body was slumped forward, dark rings were under his eyes and his skin was a tired, almost grey colour. He had obviously not had a good night either.

"I'm not even going to ask about your night." She said with a small wince, remembering all too well her own first night as a warden.

He nodded ever so slightly, "Those dreams... They're because of the-"

But she interrupted before he could give away a secret she had tried so hard to keep under wraps. "I need to talk to you about that actually, in my office as soon as you're ready. Also you'll need to bring a few supplies, we'll be travelling into the city afterwards." She turned her gaze to Cullen, "And I suppose you'll be coming too?"

"If he is, then I am." He ground out, crossing his arms and turning away almost as soon as he had finished speaking.

"Right, well I'll see you when you're ready." She directed to Anders before moving away.

Some twenty minutes later Lyria sat at her desk in front of her two wardens, both looking more than a little anxious, while Cullen paced up and down the corridor outside.

She cleared her throat, "I'm guessing that you both have questions?"

"Understatement much?" Anders replied with a slow yawn.

"Well that's why I've brought you in here. When I became a warden, as you may already know, I was just one of the two last surviving wardens, and there was no one to ask about everything that would happen to me. Alistair knew most things, but there are certain... parts to being a warden that neither of us knew about until much too late. So I'm going to tell you both everything now."

They nodded along, so she continued. "First off, you're gonna feel a lot hungrier than normal, from what I gather, that's normally the first side effect. Then there's the dreams. Some wardens cope better with them than others, I always had horrible dreams whereas Alistair was hardly affected by them. Some people are just more sensitive, I guess."

"Do you think it has anything to do with being a mage?" Anders asked quickly, "You know, connection to the fade and all that?"

"Perhaps, I really hadn't thought much on it. In any case, the dreams should get better with time, you'll just have to wait it out, I'm afraid. Next there's the taint itself." She noticed how both of them sat very straight, as if they were afraid to move and miss her words.

"By drinking the darkspawn blood, you've taken the taint into yourself. You'll start to notice things that you never would have before, you'll be able to sense other tainted beings and tell if they are enemies or friends. With some practice you may be able to learn what different types of darkspawn feel like, emissaries for example feel slightly different than the regular kind."

"So we can no longer be killed or affected by the taint? I heard during a blight the taint grows across the lands and turns the people into... well I'm not really sure..." Anders said, "But if we already have it?"

She nodded, it was half the truth. "No, the taint will not affect any of us in that way, Grey Wardens are immune to it. But the taint is effectively a poison, and it will eventually, after thirty years or so grow so strong that our bodies will no longer be able to handle it. I honestly have no idea what happens to wardens when this happens, but most travel to Orzammar to fight in the deep roads until their death."

"Grey wardens are honoured and respected because of that. I'd always wondered why." Ogrhen's voice croaked and she nodded.

Her eyes switched to Anders as his mouth opened. "We'll definitely die then?"

"Yes, either by a darkspawn's blade or by the taint which you willingly took into yourself."

"Don't remind me." He placed one hand on his head as if to ward off a nasty headache, before his face lifted. "I suppose it was either that or a templars blade."

"I need to tell you what happened during the Blight also." She said, images of the constant battles running through her mind and making her body shudder at the thought. "The Archdemon is the leader of the darkspawn, they are drawn to it by the taint, and once they find an Archdemon they can release it. This is usually in the Deep Roads. There the Archdemon can produce an army, and when the horde comes to the surface they poison the land, hoping to take over everything. The only way to stop a blight, is to kill the Archdemon."

"There isn't going to be another blight is there? I thought you had just saved us from one." Anders said with confusion written on his face.

"Yes, but this is important for you, for all wardens to know. Even if you never live to see another Blight, this information can be used to show you just how important your job is, and the lengths to which you will be expected to go." Lyria took a deep breath to steady herself, "The Archdemon must be slain by a warden. If not, the old God's soul will simply transfer over to the nearest tainted creature, another darkspawn. If a grey warden kills the archdemon, the soul is transferred into the warden instead, which permanently ends the Archdemon's existence."

"Well that can't be healthy."

"No... Two souls cannot survive in one body, and so the grey warden dies along with the Archdemon. This is why we are the only ones capable to stop a blight, why we are always told that we must do everything possible to get the job done."

"But what about yourself? You killed the Archdemon but you're still standing here." Both of them were looking at her with a mixture of expressions. She supposed Oghren might have already known part of the answer, but Anders of course would know nothing.

"I killed the Archdemon, yes. But it's soul was not transferred to me. In order to survive, our friend Morrigan completed a ritual. I won't go into details, but she managed to transfer the Archdemon's soul into an unborn child, which was too young to be affected by it. It saved mine and Alistair's lives, but at the same time it was a selfish decision. The old God is still out there because of us, only bound to a human body. It will be up to Morrigan now, to make sure that nothing happens to that child."

"And you trust her to?"

She sighed, the decision to help Morrigan was one that still haunted her. At the time she had been so upset over the news of her or Alistair's imminent death that she had told the witch that she would do anything to save their lives. She had waited outside Alistair's room, pacing up and down for at least an hour just thinking it all through, wondering on the consequences of both options. But eventually he had become worried, sensing her outside, and had opened the door and made her tell him everything.

He hadn't wanted to do the ritual itself, but he agreed with her that Riordan was in no shape to defeat the Archdemon. He had still been healing from his wounds, so they were forced to consider the possibility that he would fail.

In the end Alistair hadn't wanted to loose her. And there was only one way for that to happen.

"I know what we did was wrong, Anders. And I've no doubt that Morrigan will look after the child, but what will happen after that, no one can tell. The first warden does not know of anything that happened that night. Alistair and I refused to tell them the truth, instead we faked ignorance and said we had no idea how I had survived. They were not happy, but they accepted it.

"At any rate, I thought you should know. It may well be important for the coming years." Everything was silent and still in the room, the sound of their breathing the only noise until she scooted her chair back and stood. "Well, I think that's enough bad news for one day. We have to head into the city, I'll go and get everything prepared."


	6. Amaranthine

A/N: Ah I hadn't realised it had been so long ago I had last updated this story, oops. I have already started on the next chapter so should hopefully have that out soon. Thank you to my reviewers and anyone reading out there.

6: Amaranthine

Lyria was tired of walking by the time the group of four arrived in the city of Amaranthine. She had spent so long travelling and walking around during the Blight that she had thought the short trip would be fine. And it would have been, if it were not for Anders' constant moaning, Oghren's random fits of alcohol induced giggles and Cullen's persistence in remaining silent for the entire journey.

Feeling rather tense and annoyed herself, she stumbled up to the entrance of the city, instantly looking over the place with a critical eye. The gates were not too far ahead of them now, but the walls that lined the city were big and white, overlooking the outskirts of the city where the refugees and the poorer people lived in wooden shelters and tents.

It was something that had always bugged her, right from her childhood when she had lived in an alienage, separated from the rest of the world just because of what she was. And that was before the trouble with her magic had cropped up.

It seemed that Amaranthine was no different to the other cities in Thedas; the rich lived in high up homes with a wall surrounding them, protecting them from both attacks and the less off people. And those that had no money were forced to live together, huddled under the city walls like vermin.

She felt her anger growing, it was something she was suddenly determined to change about her Arling.

The group walked towards a group of refugees that were standing around a lone tent, one man was trying to sell his merchandise but didn't appear to be having much luck, the items he was selling were obviously stolen from somewhere or someone, and there was nothing of much value.

Swallowing her anger she stepped up to the man and picked up a couple of items to inspect. A small carved figurine of a dragon stood out to her, it reminded her much of Alistair and his joy over finding the wooden toys. She looked up the man, slightly amused by the worried look on his face, as if he were guilty of something.

"How much for this?" She asked, watching as the man's eyes lit up at the thought of selling something.

"Uh, five silvers." He said, watching intently as she dug around in her money pouch and handed him almost double the amount he had asked for. She quickly tossed the wooden trinket over to Anders who caught it easily and studied it with a confused frown.

She looked back to the man, "I wonder if you can help me? I'm looking for someone and I was told they were here. You haven't seen anyone named Colbert, have you?"

"Colbert? Sure, he's right over there." The man pointed towards two men who were gathered at the side of an old, run down building. She nodded her thanks and set off towards them, quickly realising that one of them was an elf.

As the group approached the human turned and gave her smug look, his eyes roaming over her body before turning back up to her eyes which were narrowed dangerously.

"Colbert, right? You found the cave?"

"Who's askin'?"

She took in a deep breath to make herself stand a bit taller before answering him. "I am a grey warden and the Arlessa of this Arling so I suggest you answer my questions before I loose my temper."

She really didn't know if word of who, or more importantly what, she was had gotten around the city yet, but they way that Colbert's eyes widened and he instantly stood up straighter was a sure give-away that he at least knew she was someone important. "Uhhh, yes. I'm Colbert and we found the cave, although it's really more of a chasm." He stuttered quickly.

"Where is this chasm? How did you find it?"

"I can't take all the credit for it, Micah fell in first." He gestured to the blonde elf at his side who was watching their conversation nervously. "It's quite far from town and we just stumbled across it. It was really something to behold, a huge cleft as if the Maker himself had cracked the earth in two, like an egg."

Tapping her foot impatiently she waited for him to continue on. "It looked like someone had tried to build over it or cover it up, but it must have been abandoned years ago. No one in town knew anything about it."

"And the darkspawn?"

"Well the place was empty when we first got there, not a darkspawn in sight. But then Micah here fell in, screaming in agony and swarms of darkspawn appeared around us before we could even move. Thought we were goners, for sure. But, thank the Maker, they ignored us, marched straight off."

"They ignored you?"

"Yes, looked like they were occupied with something." Colbert flashed them a smile and dug down through his bag until he pulled out a worn map. "I marked the place on here so we could avoid it next time, but you can have it if you want."

"Thanks, I'll make sure to head down there as soon as possible." Lyria muttered, taking the map and stuffing it in her own pack. The group continued on towards the gate as Lyria mentally checked off one thing from her list of jobs.

"So the darkspawn were so occupied as to overlook two screaming, injured men? Boggles the mind." Anders said from just behind her, "Anything like this ever happen before?"

"Not that I know of." She sent him a small smile, "All the darkspawn I've met have been more interested in killing me."

The group continued on in silence, passing through the city gates and into the centre of the town. They passed many stalls where each of them paused to look at various items, Oghren spending at least twenty minutes inspecting some weaponry that was on sale while Lyria and Anders stocked up on potions and health poultices.

Eventually Lyria came to stop at Oghren's side, just as he was running his hands over the handle of a shinning battleaxe. Her eyes skipped over the sharper weapons and straight to a long wooden pole that stood in the background. The top was twisted like the branches of a tree and at the bottom was a small silver blade that had been embedded into the wood.

It was a beautifully made staff, and she picked it up and felt its weight in her hands. She was so used to wielding a sword or dagger now that the weight of the staff felt unfamiliar and just plain wrong to her. But she knew that Anders was in need of a weapon, and this would probably suit him well.

* * *

><p>With his new staff in its place at his back, Anders felt as if no one in the world could stop him. He loved the staff and had thanked Lyria many times since she had handed it over to him, but his initial feelings had been of dread and worry.<p>

It was common knowledge that mages who wore a staff were soon to be dead mages. After all, there was no better way of drawing attention to the fact that you could use magic than by carrying a staff at your back. But Anders knew things were different for him now. He was a grey warden and no templars could stop him, not even Cullen who stood right behind him and glared at his back at every moment he could get.

Being a warden wasn't just about the darkspawn, although he knew it was a worthy goal to be helping to stop the monsters. For him, being a warden meant he could be himself, he could tell the world that he was a mage and that he was proud of it.

The very thought was enough to bring him out into a bright grin, which earned him a couple of comments from his dwarven companion.

"Hey, templar, I think something's wrong with Sparklefingers over here, grinning like a mad man he is."

Cullen barely registered Oghren's words but did lift his head slightly to take a look at the mage's face. Once he realised Oghren was just joking and that Anders was not about to turn into some kind of monster, he let his head fall back down and continued staring at the ground beneath his feet.

Anders stared at the dwarf incredulously, "Sparklefingers?"

"Yeah, you like it?"

"Uhh-"

"There he is." Lyria interrupted, pointing across the street towards a large man who stood in front of a notice board. The group walked up to his side and the man instantly gaped at them.

"You're... You're her, aren't you? The Hero of Ferelden?"

She was getting used to people asking her that and found it a bit annoying after a while. There was no way she would describe herself as a hero, not after everything she had done in her past, the way she had treated certain people, the way she had handled certain situations... No she was definitely no hero.

"Hm, are you Marvis?"

"Oh yes. I must say, I am honoured to meet you. Thank the Maker you're finally here!"

"Yes, yes, actually I was after some help from you." She quickly said, trying to get him away from the subject of her title. "I heard that you were having some trouble with your caravans?"

"Oh yes, to put it lightly. The wagons are being attacked, some of them even burnt to ashes. And it's been getting worse recently. People from the neighbouring villages have seen guards torn limb from limb and left in the village square."

"Does that sound like something darkspawn would do?" Anders said from behind her, "Unless they have an emissary with them, would they resort to starting fires?"

"I'm not sure," She replied, turning to him with a confused look, "But if recent matters have told me anything its that the darkspawn are not acting like usual any more. There's no telling what they might do."

"Some people said they saw monsters lurking in the shadows, what else could it be?" Marvis said, watching their exchange with his own confused look. "Whatever it is, these attacks have completely crippled trade between Amaranthine and Denerim."

"Do you know where about the attacks started?"

"I can't say where it began, no, but the last one was not far from here, the wagon was just passing through the Wending Woods when it happened."

"I'm planning on getting to the bottom of all this so I'll head over there as soon as I can and see what's going on."

"Thank you, Warden. We need some good news right now."

Lyria nodded, she knew the feeling. "There was something else I wanted to ask about. I'm actually looking for a warden that might have passed through the city. I don't suppose you've heard of any wardens near here, besides at the Keep?"

He shook his head after a while, "No, can't say that I have. But if he was passing through he must have stayed at the inn, they might remember him there."

"Great, thank you, Marvis."

"Bless you and Maker watch over you."

With a quick look to her companions the group set off once again.

* * *

><p>They had quickly left the city after coming out from the inn. The owner had seen and spoken to Kristof about a week earlier but hadn't heard from him since. Lyria had taken a peak at his belongings but hadn't wanted to disturb the empty room in case the warden came back. The only thing she had collected was his journal, which would make for some good reading later on and would hopefully shed some light on where he had gone.<p>

Anders was dragging his feet by the time the group came across the huge gaping hole in the middle of a field, just where Colbert had said it was.

And just as he had described it, it really was like an entrance to an underground cavern. As they neared they steadied themselves in case there were any darkspawn around, but found that the surrounding area was empty and silent.

"It's almost too quiet around here." Anders commented as they approached the hole cautiously.

Lyria looked down through the hole to the cavern below. "This doesn't look good." She slowly knelt down until she was sitting on the edge of the hole, and then gently slid her body down until her feet touched the earth below. Colbert hadn't been wrong on his assumption that it was an entrance to the Deep Roads, the cavern opened up into many tunnels that ran under the earth, and could potentially lead to just about anywhere.

"What's down there? Darkspawn?" Oghren's voice came from above, and she shook her head.

"I don't sense anything. If this really does lead to the Deep Roads, its a long way off." She remembered how the Deep Roads felt, the feeling of being trapped, of being swarmed by darkspawn both above and below you. Never knowing what was around the corner because your senses were too overloaded with the taint. "All I see is darkness."

She turned and began climbing back out from the hole, eventually accepting Anders' hand as he pulled her up to the surface again. As she got back to her feet she noticed the many muddied footprints that surrounded the hole.

"Something has crawled out from here though, and there's too many prints for it to be just the two hunters." She pointed them out for the others before looking up at the sky.

Anders finished observing the prints and looked up to his commander, "So what do we do? Just go down there and see what's inside?"

Her gaze turned back to him instantly, "We have no idea how deep that tunnel goes, or if it leads to darkspawn. It's too dangerous for us to go down there now, three wardens will not be enough."

She heard the sudden creak of Cullen's armour as he shifted, and she couldn't help but smirk to herself. He had done it on purpose to remind them that he was still there... Did that mean that he was finally accepting he was a part of the group, or was it just his way to get their attention?

She looked up to him, "Even with you tagging along, Cullen, there's still not enough of us... No we'll head back to the Keep for now. We can come back when we have more men and more daylight."

"Right you are, Commander. I for one am looking forward to opening a bottle back in my room." One look at his commander made Oghren laugh, "And by the looks of it, you could use one for yourself too."

She laughed, but inside she felt uneasy. She didn't want to leave the hole open in case any more darkspawn emerged, but there was nothing they could do right away. Three wardens and a templar would be no match against a potential army of darkspawn.

"Let's go, I want to speak to Varel about this before he goes to sleep, and it's getting dark already."


	7. The Prisoner

**A/N:** Once again I'm sorry for the delay of this chapter. I've completely lost track of time for this fic since I've been working so hard on other projects. Anyway, here's chapter 7. Please leave a review to let me know what's good/bad about this fic, I'm starting to wonder if I should continue it since there's so little interest.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: The prisoner<p>

The sun had completely gone and the moon was hanging up in the sky by the time they found themselves back at Vigil's Keep.

They had barely stepped inside into the warmth of the building when a soldier ran over to them.

"Commander! A few days ago the wardens caught a thief in the Vigil. Took four of them to capture him, even gave one of them a black eye, he did. They put him in the dungeons to await a decision on what to do. But now that you're here it's your decision."

Lyria groaned, glancing over to where the woman was pointing. "He's still there now?"

"Yes, the wardens died fighting for this Keep while he sat in his prison, safe from harm. The soldiers are not too happy that he survived."

Lyria sighed, after a long day travelling all she wanted was to find Varel and then curl up in her bed and sleep for a week, but it seemed as if the prisoner had waited long enough to hear a decision. She gestured to the rest of her party, "I'll go speak with him. Can one of you find Varel and send him down?"

"Sure thing, Commander." The two wardens retreated further into the building with Cullen following after, his armour creaking with every step.

Lyria followed the woman to the the dungeon and stepped inside.

The dungeon was a simple room, with three cells at the end and a small table on the left. She had briefly noticed that the middle cell was occupied when a guard walked over to her.

"Ah, Commander. Good thing you're here. This one's been locked up five nights now. Think it's about time he was dealt with."

The guard gestured over to the man, who was sitting on the floor staring up at them intently. He was too far away to overhear them talking, but she couldn't help but notice how his eyes focused on their lips, as if he was lip reading every word they had said.

"Who is he?" She asked.

"Won't give us a name, all I know is he was caught poking around the estate in the middle of the night. I'd say he was just a thief, but it took four grey wardens to capture him. Best be careful, whoever he is, he's no ordinary burglar."

"Right." She sighed as she looked back to the man, "Let me talk to him for a moment."

The guard nodded, and stepped out from the room leaving her alone with the prisoner. She stepped forwards up to the cage, watching as his eyes surveyed her in a way that she easily recognised. He was trying to spot a weakness, something that would work in his favour.

She took in his ragged, dirty clothes, the clothes of 'normal' people as she liked to call them. Then again, any belongings of his would have been taken away when he was captured. Even from his position on the floor she could tell that he was tall, much taller than she was, and he had long dark hair that fell to his shoulders, a distinct and somewhat familiar face that she couldn't place. He wasn't skinny like most of those normal people usually were, in fact he was well built as if he had worked his whole life, as if he was a warrior.

As she stopped in front of his cell he stood, and she found herself pouting at just how tall he actually was. It would be very hard to intimidate him since she was only just eye level with his chest.

"If it isn't the great hero, conqueror of the Blight and vanquisher of all evil." He started, his tone harsh and biting. "Aren't you meant to be ten feet tall with lightening bolts shooting out from your eyes?"

She bristled at his words, felt her hands curl into fists at her side. She didn't like being made fun of.

"That's only when I get mad, and believe me, keep that up and you'll earn yourself a front row seat to see the show. It's not pretty."

"Is that what you told my father? Before you slit his throat?" His words confused her enough that she stepped back, and she saw the small satisfaction that played on his face.

"Your father? And who exactly is your father?" She asked cautiously. In all honesty, she could think of many men that she had killed in the past year, any number of them could have had a son. It wasn't a particularly nice thought but she forced herself to shake the stab of guilt away.

He seemed angered that she had no idea who he was, his hands raised to grab the cell bars with such force that his knuckles turned white. "My name is Nathaniel Howe. And you murdered my father, Rendon Howe in cold blood! My family owned these lands until you showed up!"

She mentally slapped herself for her weakness as she had to look down at the ground. She had to look away from those intense grey eyes before the guilt ate away at her. She had no right to take away someone's father, she knew that, but Rendon Howe had not been a good person. At the time she had said he deserved his fate, but did he really? Did anyone deserve to die like that?

She looked back up to him. Even though she felt guilt over his death, Rendon Howe had brought it all on himself, and she was determined to say her piece on the matter. "Arl Howe was a traitor and a murderer! He slaughtered an entire family just to take over their lands and he set assassins after me and my friends for no reason! He was so blinded by his own need for power that-"

His voice was so loud it overpowered her instantly, "Don't you dare speak of him like that! He was desperate! If it wasn't for the Blight he would never have done those things and even then he had his own reasons."

Lyria shook her head, "How can you justify his crimes? The innocent blood he spilt was more than enough to warrant a death sentence-"

"And I suppose you took pride in the fact that it was your blade that finally stopped him."

She sighed, letting her anger leave her. Shouting at each other wasn't going to get her questions answered. "If it meant saving others, then yes." She heard him snort in annoyance but ignored it. "What were you doing here at the Keep? It's no longer in your family's hands."

"I am aware of that. My father served the hero of the Riverdane and fought against the Orleasians, yet our family lost everything." He stilled for a moment as if contemplating what to tell her. "I came here... I thought I was going to try and kill you, to lay a trap for you. But then I realised I just wanted to reclaim some of my family's things. It's all I have left."

Perhaps it was the tone of his voice, the one bit that she recognised as defeat, that made her actually consider his words. "And if I just let you go..?"

"I... I don't know. I only came back to Ferelden a month ago. If you let me go I'll probably come back here, you might not catch me next time."

She grinned at that, but her sarcastic comment was lost as Varel entered into the room, looking from her to Nathaniel and back.

"Commander?"

She smiled up at him, "I've made a decision. We'll give Nathaniel here a tour of the building, and he can take all his family's belongings before we throw him out the door."

She ignored Varel's protests and turned to the prisoner, "After that, I don't want to see you again. And if our paths should cross, and you even think of trying anything, I will make sure to show you what I'm like when I'm mad."

He stayed silent, apparently too shocked to say anything until three guards entered the room at Varel's orders. They each stationed themselves at Nathaniel's side while another grabbed his arms and cuffed them together.

Eventually he managed to stutter out a reply. "You would really let me go? Even after I threatened you? You are crazy!"

"And don't you forget it." She called after him as he was dragged away to gather his things.

Varel stared down at her with disapproval, "Are you sure this is a wise decision, Commander?"

"Nathaniel Howe shouldn't pay for his father's crimes."

"Howe? You just let a Howe walk free?" His eyes had widened to a near impossible size that almost made her laugh.

But the laughter died in her throat just as quickly as it had erupted. "I took his father from him, Varel. I think I owe him this." She turned, suddenly wanting nothing but her bed.

* * *

><p>Lyria woke with a start, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She looked down, noticing how her hands were clenched around the bed sheets, how her face felt wet with sweat.<p>

She stood from the bed, taking a deep breath and letting the cool morning air hit her face. It was still dark outside, so it must have been in the early hours of the morning. It was far too early to be getting up, but she knew she wouldn't get back to sleep now.

_Just a dream... It was just a dream._

But no matter how many times she thought it, she couldn't shake the feeling from her body. No matter how long she tried to shut it out, she couldn't make her brain forget the face that had appeared in her dream.

The face of a darkspawn, that not only talked, but that had its own mind. A darkspawn that had spoken to her, had whispered to her in the dark. A monster that had a more human appearance than the ones she had fought and killed, and she had never seen a darkspawn that wore a mask before...

She needed a distraction before she let her mind think over her dream too much...

As she paced up and down her room her eyes landed on the leather bound journal that sat on the table. She had been too tired to read it earlier.

Settling herself down in her chair, with her legs curled up under her body, she opened the journal and flipped through the pages. The first few were simple entries detailing Kristoff's first few nights at Vigil's Keep, and then he began writing about the oddly behaved darkspawn, about his companions and even about the wife he had left behind for his mission.

Feeling like she was invading his privacy she turned to the back of the book, then flipped through the pages until she came to the last written entry.

_'Few in town have heard anything about darkspawn stragglers. I doubted reports myself until a man told me he encountered darkspawn in the Blackmarsh. Although locals say the marsh is haunted, brave and desperate souls like this man still risk collecting peat._

_The man said their leader spoke, but all know darkspawn cannot talk. More horrifying, he described a monster, a worm with legs. Surely he was mistaken about it following the darkspawn._

_I shall leave for the Blackmarsh in the morning.'_

The Blackmarsh? He had been heading there before he went missing, so he was probably still there somewhere. At least she knew she wasn't going crazy, if others had heard about the talking darkspawn. And this worm with legs? What was that about?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, and she only then realised that the sun was shinning outside.

Time for another day to begin.


	8. Those Who Fight

8: Those Who Fight

Lyria looked up from the letter she held tightly in one hand as the group neared the house they had been searching for. The letter had been sent by a family that had seen darkspawn on their land, they had asked for help dealing with them, so Lyria had taken the first opportunity to get down there and lend a hand.

As soon as they stepped up into the surrounding area, she felt the familiar tingle of the taint filling the air.

The sharp intake of breath from Anders told her that he felt it too.

"This doesn't look good." She gave her companions a grave look before running towards the house as fast as she could in her armour. She had only made it half way there when five hurlocks sprung out from around the corner.

She drew out her sword at the same time that the others grabbed their weapons and threw themselves into the battle.

Her blade sliced through one darkspawns middle as she ran past it, pulling her sword arm up to block a blow from the next monster. The darkspawn growled and pushed, forcing her smaller form to stumble back. With a slight distance between herself and the darkspawn, she held out her free hand and watched in satisfaction as the darkspawn was engulfed in flames.

Her eyes scanned the area as another group of darkspawn entered the fray. She spotted Oghren, standing in the middle of a group of three hurlocks, and rushed over to give him a hand.

She launched herself at one darkspawn's back, plunging her blade into its shoulder before it turned to face her properly. The last few darkspawn were taken down by Anders and Cullen before the party regrouped.

"I think we got here just in time." Anders said, staring down at the darkspawn corpses.

"No, we were too late." Lyria said as she rushed forward towards the house. The closer she got the more horrified she felt. The ground in front of the building was littered with the bodies of the family. They had been too late to offer any help for them.

"We only received their letter this morning, there was no way we could have come earlier." Anders replied, knowing that their commander would blame herself for their deaths.

Lyria turned when her senses started screaming at her, and moments later the earth shook beneath their feet. She knew that sensation well.

"Move!" She barely had the word out before she saw the ogre charging towards them. Anders and Oghren scattered but Cullen seemed too shocked at the sight of such a large darkspawn, he'd probably never seen one before.

Lyria grabbed him by the arm and dragged him, pulling him from the ogres path just in time as the ogre slammed into the house where they had been standing just seconds before.

Another pack of darkspawn, led by an alpha hurlock, swarmed into the area and the group were forced to split up, Anders and Oghren taking on the smaller creatures while Lyria and Cullen dealt with the ogre.

As it reared back up she sliced across its legs and watched as Cullen copied her moves. She kept her focus on the ogre as its hands swayed around them, attempting to knock them away but a part of her mind was trying to pay attention to the fight going on behind her too.

One distraction later and she spun just in time to see the ogres hand as it grabbed a hold of Cullen and lifted him in the air, squeezing him so tightly that he gasped for air.

She knew that feeling but that didn't help her much. She sent a blast of energy at the ogre, attempting to stun it into letting go, but nothing happened and Cullen was slowly being crushed to death.

There was nothing she could do with her sword right now, so she concentrated on using her magic and cast a paralysis spell towards the ogre. It worked as soon as the spell hit and the ogre was suddenly still, only its eyes remained open and alive as it looked for the source of the magic.

Cullen was still trapped in its grip so she cast a quick healing spell, just to keep him going for a minute longer. Her healing spells were no where near as good as Anders', but she didn't have time to wait for him.

She could hear Ogren's growls as he swung his axe around, once again surrounded with darkspawn, while Anders was slowly backing away from the Alpha that was advancing on him.

She felt torn, she wanted to help him but she couldn't leave Cullen. The ogre would be free from her spell in just a second. She cast a couple of spells which slowed the alpha down, but found that she was quickly running out of mana. She wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Just as she thought it, the ogre roared as it lurched backwards, its hands releasing their grip around Cullen's body. He fell to the ground with a loud thud and didn't get back up.

Lyria barely had time to move out the way as the ogre turned its attentions to her. She dodged one swing but the sudden impact on the earth shook the ground around her, making her stumble.

She turned just in time to see the ogre's arms heading her way, and this time she didn't have enough time to move. The arm slammed into her side and knocked her away, her body hit the far wall of the house before she slid to the ground, screaming in pain.

The ogre was slowly advancing on her once again.

She stood, taking deep breaths to try and force her mind to forget the pain running through her side. She was pretty sure she had broken a couple of ribs, and her left leg felt heavy, with every step causing a shot of pain to race up her muscles.

Bracing herself against the pain, she took a running leap at the creature, using its own body to clamber her way to its front. She yelled out, in pain and anger as her blade plunged down into it's neck repeatedly. The ogre groaned and dropped to the ground, sending her sprawling to the floor a few feet away from its dead body.

She stayed there for a moment, not wanting to try and get up as the battle still waged around her. She focused on trying to breath through the pain that laced her body. She turned her neck slightly, watching as Cullen raised back to his feet. He was limping and holding his arm but otherwise seemed uninjured.

The templar began making his way over to her as she spotted Anders doing the same. Oghren was fighting the last couple of darkspawn, and they all knew he could handle them himself.

As soon as Anders saw her he focused on healing her. It was enough to take away some of the pain, but she would need to be examined further to see if her ribs were broken. He nodded to Cullen with a sigh, "I need to get her armour off. I'll need you to help..."

"What?" He turned to the mage with a face of distaste, as if he would get a disease by being that close to him. "I'm not helping you, you're supposed to be the healer."

Anders glared up at him, "So you're not even going to help? I can't move her without causing more injury. I don't care if you don't want to help you have to!"

Cullen looked as if he had another argument ready but Lyria stopped him. "Whatever you two are going to do, can you do it quickly please? Kind of bleeding to death here while you argue like little old ladies..."

The pair looked at each other and sighed, knowing they had no choice but to work together. Neither looked happy about it, but they got to work next to each other and began unstrapping her armour so that they could get to her injuries without making her move.

"Remind me again why you wear all of this stuff?" Anders groaned as he pulled the heavy armour off and handed it to Cullen.

She chuckled, although the slight movement made her body hurt more. "If I hadn't been wearing it, I would probably be dead by now."

"Point taken."

Eventually they removed all the upper armour and Anders could lift up her shirt enough to take a look at the big, purple bruise that was slowly creeping up her side and back. Even Cullen winced at the sight of it before turning away.

Anders poked her in certain points, ignoring her cries. "Argh, will you stop that!"

"I need to feel if you've broken your ribs."

"But your poking hurts! How would you like it if I started poking you?"

He grinned, "You can poke me any time, commander."

"Ughhhh... Just get it over with." She groaned, turning her face so that she didn't have to look at him grinning as he caused her pain. Her eyes found Cullen's form as he knelt down beside her. He was looking away, but she could tell from the way that he held himself that he was still in pain too.

Once Anders had finished poking and had firmly told her that she had only bruised her ribs and would need a couple days of rest to recover he sent another wave of healing magic her way and forced a health poultice down her throat before slowly helping her up and gathering her armour. She didn't want to wear it for the walk back, since it would only knock on her already battered body.

Once she was standing and feeling a bit better she pointed to Cullen. "You need to heal Cullen too, he was injured."

Both Anders and Cullen glared at each other before shaking their heads and speaking at the same time.

"I'm not healing him! He wouldn't have even helped earlier if you hadn't-"

"I'm fine, I don't need help from_ him_."

They glared at each other until Anders stepped back, "Fine, don't want my help? I hope you suffer then!"

He walked off with a huff before Cullen growled and stalked off after him, leaving Lyria standing with her arms held out, waiting for someone to help her attempt to walk.

When no one came she sighed, it was about time she sat those two down and had a talk...

* * *

><p>"Finally!"<p>

Her cry almost echoed through the air as she let out an exasperated sigh. The walk back to the Keep was the worst journey she'd ever had to take.

To start with her whole right side ached and every movement jostled her injuries. Then there was her lack of armour. She couldn't put her chestplate back on without hurting herself so she had been forced to leave it off. Which meant she was walking in just her undershirt, leggings and boots. The lack of armour didn't affect her at all, but it was drawing some strange looks from the few people they passed.

And as if all that wasn't enough, Anders and Cullen were driving her crazy with their constant bickering. At one point she had barely stopped herself from clubbing the mage round the back of the head with his own staff.

Now she could finally see the Keep in the distance and knew it wouldn't be long until she was back in her room, able to lie down and relax. She couldn't wait to get there.

They had barely turned the corner onto the road which would lead them straight to the keep when they came to an abrupt stop.

"I wondered how long it'd take before you showed up."

Lyria's gaze shot up at the familiar voice until she spotted Nathaniel's form, sitting on the edge of the road. His eyebrows rose as he spotted her lack of clothing and her now useless armour being carried in Oghren's arms.

"Don't ask." She said, shaking her head before she narrowed her gaze and lowered her tone of voice. "What are you doing here? I thought I said I didn't want to see you again?"

He shrugged, "Yes, you did. But I thought about it, and I decided to come back. I told you I would."

She glared at him as he stood from the floor. She braced herself for the pain before changing her stance so that she would be ready to fight, to summon magic to her hands if he should try anything. The others were confused, but they changed their positions too, just in case.

Nathaniel laughed as he brought up his hands in the sign of surrender. "I hate to disappoint you, but I didn't come here to fight. I actually wanted to talk to you."

Her eyes narrowed in his direction, "We're waiting..."

"You set me free, just let me go, despite what I said or what I might do. I wanted to know why."

Lyria shifted her feet, finding it uncomfortable to stay in a fighting stance with her injuries. If what he said was true though, they wouldn't be fighting any time soon. "I... I felt like I owed you this. I took something away from you and even though I'm not entirely sorry for it, I am sorry for your loss. I understand that all too well."

She watched his expression, knowing that he had understood the meaning behind her words. She had been through it too, someone had taken her own father away from her a long time ago.

"Let me go with you, make me a grey warden."

The group all stood in silence, surprise evident on their faces until Lyria spoke up again.

"You want to be a warden?"

"Why not? I thought about... everything. I have no where to go, I thought I would die back there, but you let me go. Perhaps I don't deserve a second chance, but I want to make a difference. My family are pariahs now, I want to change that, I want to show people that I can be something good."

"And you would risk your life to do that?" She asked, not taking her eyes off his form in case he was trying to trick them. He was a rogue after all.

"Yes, I would. I need to do something. Make me a grey warden, let me try, please."

"Hang on a minute," Anders spoke from her right, "you're not really thinking of recruiting him, are you?" At her shrug he continued, "He came here to kill you, remember. Do you really want someone like that following you around? You might as well be asking for a knife in the back..."

She laughed as much as she could. "Remind me to tell you about Zev later." She turned back to Nathaniel, "All right, you're on the team, just don't take it personally when we keep an eye on you."

He nodded with a small smile, "I expected no less, thank you for this chance."

* * *

><p>Lyria walked through the room with a smile. Nathaniel had completed the joining, and survived. She had one more warden added to her ranks, one more soldier to help with the coming battles. Although she knew she couldn't really trust Nathaniel yet, she had no trouble believing that she had made the right decision. After all, she had spared Zevran after he had tried to kill her, and he had become one of her best friends and allies.<p>

She stepped out from Nathaniel's room, leaving him unconscious and sprawled across his bed, and set off for her own room. It had been a long day after all. Her body was still aching but since she had not had a chance to sit down yet, she was beginning to get used to the pain and was learning which way to turn her body to avoid it.

She rounded the corner and spotted Cullen, standing silently outside Anders' room.

She stopped just in front of him, noticing how he was leaning against the wall, and she suddenly remembered that he had never accepted any help with his own injuries from either herself or Anders.

"You do know you have a room just down the hall, right?" She said, watching as his tired eyes shot up to her, only just noticing her presence.

"Sorry..?"

"Do you really spend all night standing out here? You don't have to, you know? He's not going anywhere."

He startled, pushing himself from the wall as if he was expecting a fight. "I am here to do my duty."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you should ignore your own needs."

"I do not see how that is any concern of yours. And I am not ignoring my needs, I am just doing what I have been told to do."

"Anders is asleep, nothing will happen overnight. You don't need to guard him."

"Ser Rylock gave me a job to do-"

She couldn't help the way her voice rose as she interrupted him. "Ser Rylock isn't here!"

"Neither would I be if it wasn't for _Him_. It's your fault I'm stuck here!"

"What did you want me to do, Cullen? Let him die for a crime that he didn't even commit? The Cullen I used to know would never want that, no matter who or what that man was."

He shook his head, not daring to look at her but keeping his eyes trailed on the floor. "People change, you certainly did."

"Yes I did, I changed for the better. I let go of my anger and hatred and I moved on, and I'm a better person for it! Why can't you do the same?"

He finally looked up, meeting her eyes and she almost took a step back at the amount of emotion she saw in them. "How can you say that? You have no idea what I went through in the tower-"

She let out an exasperated breath, "It always come back to this, doesn't it? No I don't know, but whatever it was you need to stop blaming us for it. One mage turning to blood magic does not mean all of us are evil."

"Maybe not, but you can't deny how easy it is for one of you to turn, and that includes Him."

She sighed softly, her gaze travelling to Anders' door and back to Cullen again. "I'm not saying you have to stop watching Anders, just lay off him a bit. He's done nothing wrong to deserve this and believe me, if something happened to him I would be the first person to stop him, even if it meant ending him."

She gave him one last look before sighing, sending a quick wave of healing energy over him. She wasn't going to make him suffer, even if he wouldn't accept their help willingly. He looked surprised at the quick spell, but she didn't wait around, instead she turned and began walking away, hoping that her words had finally gotten through to the stubborn templar.


End file.
